Requested Images

[Huntman]

Attached are some of the images of the tang that a few members requested-  Anything you can tell me about this would be fantastic.  They were rusted, and to my knowlage they have never been removed (in fact one of the pin's that went through the handle turned to dust when I removed it.  I had another bamboo pin by chance to put back in, that fit flawlessly (luck)

 

Anyway these characters are hard to see in a photo, so in addition to the whole tang photo I have each one blown up some and will post them in the correct order (top to bottom if your holding the sword with blade pointing up)

 

Sword 1 Whole Tang

 

| X | (Logo I think)

| 1 |

| 2 |    < --- Represents whole tang 

| 3 |

| 4 |

-------

Logo (= X)

| X |

 

1st Character (top = 1) 

| 1 |

 

2nd Character ( 2nd down from top = 2)

| 2 |

 

3rd Character (3rd down from top = 3)

| 3 |

 

4th Character (4th and last character = 4)

| 4 |

 

 

And another sword -  This one is hard to make out, I'll come back latter if needed and add better images, it takes me a while to clean these up.

 

 

Thanks' 

   Alan

 

 

[Brian]

The X logo is a Sho stamp, arsenal/inspection marking indicating that the sword is an arsenal (more mass produced) wartime sword not fully traditionally made.

[SteveM]

First one is

吉田兼門 

Yoshida Kanekado. As Brian says, arsenal sword. Yoshida is the family name, Kanekado is the "art name" of the craftsman that oversaw production, or perhaps he had some deeper involvement. hard to say. In any event, he put his name to the sword. 

 

Second one is

相模守藤原廣重

Sagami-no-kami Fujiwara Hiroshige. Sagami is the province (modern-day Yokohama and Kamakura area). Fujiwara is a clan name, and Hiroshige is the art name of the craftsman. 

 

Guido, if you are around, I found another example of a naginata sheath/scabbard that may be of interest to you in determining the orientation of the designs on the sheath. (This popped up when I was looking for the above smith). ↓

 

http://www.e-sword.jp/sale/2014/1410_4010syousai.htm

[Shugyosha]

Steve was sharper than me as usual 

 

Here are the entries from Markus Sesko's eJapanese Swordsmiths:

 

KANEKADO (兼門), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Kanekado” (兼門), real name Yoshida Tokuichi (吉田徳一), born March 29th 1906, he worked as a guntō smith and died September 6th 1969, student of Kurihara Kaneaki (栗原兼明), ryōkō no jōi (Akihide), Fifth Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai (新作日本刀展覧会, 1941)

 

HIROSHIGE (広重), 2nd gen., Kan´ei (寛永, 1624-1644), Musashi – “Bushū Shitahara Hiroshige” (武州下原広重), “Sagami no Kami Fujiwara Hiroshige” (相模守藤原広重), real name Yamamoto Tō´emon (山本藤右衛門), oldest son of the 1st gen. Shinshichirō Hiroshige, he changed his name later to Masashige (正重), the honorary title Sagami no Kami was granted to him on the second day of the eighth month Kan´ei 16 (1639)

 

Best,

John

[Bugyotsuji]

Steve, Eiraku tsuho 永楽通宝 and Z for Zorro, no, N for Nobunaga!

[Huntman]

Steve, John and Piers

 

 

Thank you for that, its much more than I could have asked for, thank you very much.

I have one other sword but I did not want to take it apart, it was the wooden one.  I will add this,  when I was looking at the scabbard for the 1st sword (that has the really bad stitch and leather cover) it has one spot at the bottom where it's cut open (it has been for as long as I could remember) but if you flip up that flap of leather or maybe some type of canvas it has a shiny black sheath under it.  Maybe that cover was put on by someone to protect the real scabbard?  In any event I am not sure I want to take it off my self maybe I'll find someone locally here in Indiana that can take a look at it. It just looks like it was added to the sword by someone who was not very good at stitching, and all the other swords I've seen like this have some kind of ornate nature to it. 

[Huntman]

Anyone have any advice on having these cleaned up or restored?  Or really am I doing just fine keeping them oiled once a year when I remove them from the safety deposit box (Well, its a bit larger, but not by much lol they only just fit)

[Bugyotsuji]

Your idea of showing them to someone, Allan, at a sword show for example, sounds good to me. You talk about oiling, but it is hard to imagine what you are doing from that description. Often it is better to do nothing than to do something that you are not sure about.

 

For the Nakago tang, no oiling just yet; a gentle brushing to remove dusty red rust, and then rubbing in your hands/fingers or with ordinary linen cloth is all a tang really needs.